Offers pour in to replace stolen presents

STOCKTON - David Cloxton's phone has been ringing with offers of help since word got out that thieves took about 200 Christmas presents the Good Samaritan Training Center charity planned to give to needy children over the holidays.

Stockton's Good Samaritan Training Center is looking for help after thieves stole an estimated $2,600 in toys the charity planned to give out at its annual Operation Dreamkeeper event for disadvant...

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How to help

Stockton's Good Samaritan Training Center is looking for help after thieves stole an estimated $2,600 in toys the charity planned to give out at its annual Operation Dreamkeeper event for disadvantaged children. Those wishing to make a monetary donation can call (209) 981-5855 or go online to goodsamaritantraining center.org. There is also a barrel for donated toys at the group's 2nd Chance Thrift Store at 503 N. Sierra Nevada St. in Stockton.

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STOCKTON - David Cloxton's phone has been ringing with offers of help since word got out that thieves took about 200 Christmas presents the Good Samaritan Training Center charity planned to give to needy children over the holidays.

Callers have been offering money and toys to make up for the loss and to make sure each of the roughly 850 children expected at the charity's annual Operation Dreamkeeper event will be able to get a present, said Cloxton, the charity's executive director.

"I feel we're seeing the giving spirit in our community step up and make something that was wrong, right," he said.

Over the weekend, thieves broke into the basement of Cloxton's home, where the toys were stored. Thieves didn't take all the toys. They left behind wrapping paper showing they had unwrapped the Christmas gifts to see which were the most valuable, mostly taking the toys for children aged 7 to 10 years old, Cloxton said. The estimated value of those toys was about $2,600.

Every year the charity holds its Operation Dreamkeeper event at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds. It's a gathering with entertainment for hundreds of children, who each receive a new, gift-wrapped toy.

The theft of the toys stung philanthropic Stocktonians.

Stockton-based Seeds to the World is known for fighting hunger by sending millions of pounds of seeds around the world, but it also sends toys. It has about 1,000 "like new" toys stored in Stockton, and it is offering to help Good Samaritan make up its loss, said Seeds to the World Founder Ray Baglietto.

The seniors at Atria Bayside Landing support different charities throughout the year, and now its holiday drive is going to be for the Good Samaritan Training Center, said Muna Haddad, the activity director. "I could not believe that people were stooping to the level where they are taking things from children," she said.

In addition to collecting donations, the community is considering working with Good Samaritan and inviting children to Bayside for a Christmas party, complete with caroling, she said.

Stockton resident Matthew Livesey, 40, remembered meeting Cloxton about a year ago, and made a phone call when he saw the story in the newspaper. "Something inside me said it was just fate and I should step up and help," he said, adding he was blessed with a good job and wanted to give something back. He pledged $300 and had talked to his coworkers at a Bay Area refinery about pitching in.

Cloxton said that by Tuesday afternoon he had received pledged donations of hundreds of dollars and several calls from people saying they would be sending checks. "We're getting overwhelmed."